More gold for SA swimmers

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Johannesburg - Darian Townsend continued his fine form in the Swimming World Cup series as he clinched a gold and silver medal on the second day of the Doha leg on Sunday.

The South African contingent had a successful day in general as Olympic gold medallists Cameron van der Burgh and Chad le Clos finished atop the podium in their respective events.

Townsend won the gold medal in the men’s 200m individual medley (IM) and the silver medal in the 200m freestyle.

He out-touched Hungary’s Laszio Cseh in the 200m IM by 0.1 seconds in a time of 1:53.75 after a strong swim in the final freestyle leg of the race.

Cseh, an Olympic bronze medallist, finished second in a time of 1:53.85, while Japan’s Daiya Seto touched third in 1:54.78.

Earlier, Townsend had to be content with second place in the 200m freestyle clocking a time of 1:43.95.

Australia’s Tommaso D’Orsogna finished first with a time of 1:43.84 with his compatriot Robert Hurley clinching the bronze medal touching in a time of 1:44.05.

World record holder Van der Burgh once again burnt up the swimming pool in this event as he added another gold to the one he won in the 50m breaststroke the day before.

Van der Burgh led from start to finish as he blasted the rest of the field finishing first in a time of 57.22, with his closest rival Glenn Snyders of New Zealand taking second place with 58.13. Japan’s Daiya Seto claimed third place in a time of 58.60. Fellow Olympic gold medallist Chad le Clos showed his class once again as he clinched gold in the 100m butterfly, bettering the African record he set in Dubai four days ago by 0.22 seconds in a time of 49.60 seconds.

He beat world record holder Evgeny Korotyshkin (50.22) of Russia to the wall with America’s Thomas Shields taking bronze with 50.42.

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